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Friday, February 12, 2021

Mostly Peaceful Houthi?

Perhaps there has been a clerical error in the Department of State?

The Biden administration rescued the Iran-backed Houthi as I noted in the last data dump:

Aid groups hail Biden's decision to remove the Houthis from the terrorist list. The Houthis. The Iran-backed Houthis. The Houthis who have launched Iranian-supplied missiles and bomb-drones at civilian targets in Saudi Arabia and attacked shipping in the Red Sea. What is missed is the fact that the Houthis bear a good share of the blame for Yemen's humanitarian problems. Because the Houthis use the aid groups as their logistics arm.

And now?

The Biden administration on Sunday warned Yemen’s Houthi rebels against continued attacks, days after moving to remove a “foreign terrorist organisation” designation placed on the group by former President Donald Trump in the last days of his term.

The Department of State called on the Iran-linked rebel group, which controls vast swaths of the impoverished nation, including the capital Sanaa, to immediately stop attacks on civilians in Saudi Arabia and cease new military operations in the war-torn country.

When you have to warn a group about carrying out actions that only days earlier you said they didn't do, perhaps the original decision was a gross error. 

But I'm just spitballing here. Far be it for me to get in the way of Smart Diplomacy.

UPDATE: From Strategypage:

Another Shia rebel cruise missile (UAV on automatic and armed with explosives) was intercepted by Saudi air defenses at it crossed the border heading for a city or military bases. This is the sixth such attack in the last five days. Shia rebel ground attacks continued as did extortion of foreign aid to finance the Shia rebels. The rebels continue trying to disrupt Red Sea shipping by using naval mines and remotely controlled speedboats loaded with explosives. 

Three days ago, the U.S. cancelled its designation of the Iran-backed Shia rebels as international terrorists and cancelled some smart bomb shipments to Saudi Arabia and paused the sale of F-35 stealth fighters to the UAE. This was meant to encourage the Saudis to negotiate an end to the Yemen civil war. Iran and the Shia rebels interpreted this as a victory because the Americans were making it easier for Iran to continue making attacks on Saudi Arabia via the Shia rebels who control portions of the Saudi-Yemen border.

Will the Biden administration take this early failure of their diplomacy as a signal to support allies and oppose enemies?

Or will the enemy action persuade the Biden team to make even more concessions?